Knowle's First FA Cup Tie to Be Shown Live on the BBC
A village club playing in the FA Cup for the first time in 100 years will have their moment broadcast to the nation. Knowle FC's first qualifying round tie against Worcester City on Saturday, 5 September will be shown live across the BBC's platforms, with kick-off at 12:30 BST. BBC Sport
The match will be available on BBC iPlayer, the Red Button, BBC Football's YouTube channel, and the BBC Sport website. It is the 10th year the BBC has covered the FA Cup from the qualifying stage onward, following ties through every round to the final at Wembley in May. BBC Sport
Knowle earned their place in the draw with back-to-back promotions that lifted them to Step Five — the ninth tier of England's league pyramid. For a club that has existed for a century, reaching the FA Cup proper is uncharted territory. BBC Sport; BBC News
Their opponents arrive with considerably more pedigree. Worcester City sit at Step Three, two divisions above Knowle, and carry a history of FA Cup shocks. They beat Liverpool, then a Second Division side, in 1959. Twelve years ago, they knocked out Coventry City — the 1987 Cup winners — 2-1 away from home, a result the BBC later featured in a highlights package with full commentary. BBC Sport; BBC Blogs
Worcester's FA Cup story also includes the competition's longest-ever penalty shoot-out, a 14-13 defeat to Scunthorpe United in the second round, covered by BBC Hereford & Worcester. BBC Blogs
The winners on 5 September will collect £2,250 in prize money — modest by Premier League standards, but meaningful at this level, where every pound helps a club keep its lights on and its pitch cut. Worcester City FC
For Knowle, the occasion is the story. A century-old club, two promotions in two seasons, and now a Saturday lunchtime under the BBC cameras with a chance to write a first chapter nobody saw coming. For Worcester, it is a chance to add another line to a draw that has already given them Liverpool, Coventry, and a place in penalty-shoot-out folklore.
The FA Cup's qualifying rounds rarely make headlines. But every now and then, the schedule throws up a tie that captures everything the competition is about — a small club stepping into the light for the first time, against a neighbour who has been there before.
